REPORTED BY HUMANS SINCE 2009
Piecing together Delaware’s data center pipeline is like putting together a puzzle of zoning hearings, advocacy tracking and utility reviews. Technical.ly recently obtained records that may pull some of the pieces together.
Public reporting and conversation has pointed to about five or six possible data center projects, all of them affected by the state’s October 2025 moratorium on new large-load interconnections.
The big one, Starwood Digital’s Project Washington, has been by far Delaware’s most visible proposed data center. Currently halted, it has a projected peak power demand of 1,200 MW — roughly equivalent to more than 2.5 times the average household power draw of Delaware’s entire population. The two-campus project near Delaware City came under public scrutiny, and DNREC has denied the project’s Coastal Zone permit request, at least for now.
There are often scant details tying utility-side reviews to named public data center proposals.
But Project Washington has never been the only data center under discussion. There are often scant details tying utility-side reviews to named public proposals, especially when it comes to proposed energy use.
“Nobody knows except for the utility and the developer, because it’s really dependent on what kind of cooling system they use, which they have not disclosed,” Sierra Club Delaware Executive Director Dustyn Thompson told Technical.ly. “It’s not common for data centers to disclose that until they’re pretty far down the pipeline.”
Documents obtained by Technical.ly from the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate (DPA) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, however, do include estimated peak power demand in megawatts.
They show that in its response to questions posed by the DPA in the state’s large-load tariff case, Delmarva Power identified four data center projects under review at the time: a 1,200 MW project in New Castle County, a 300 MW project in New Castle County, a 100 MW project in Kent County and another New Castle County project of undetermined size in early-stage discussion. (See details below.)
According to the case docket, DNREC and Delaware Public Service Commission Staff also posed questions to Delmarva in that tariff case, but the substantive responses were not present. Technical.ly’s FOIA request for these documents was denied by both those agencies. Only the DPA produced the requested records.
Delmarva is proposing new “large-load tariffs.” Here’s how that figures into the energy debate, and how residents can make their voices heard.
Technical.ly cross-referenced the large-load data center projects listed in the documents with public reporting and advocacy, including Sierra Club’s data center tracking, Spotlight Delaware’s data center reporting and other local coverage.
Here’s what the DPA records show about each of the four data center projects, and how each may or may not align with projects already discussed publicly.
While Project Washington is currently not moving forward as proposed, it continues to loom large in Delaware’s data center debate. The proposal, Thompson said, was unusual in how much information became public early, making it easier to follow than other projects.
Sierra Club, he said, expects Starwood won’t win its current appeal, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.
“We anticipate that they’ll lose, but we don’t anticipate that they’re just going to go away,” Thompson said. “That site’s too good.”
Newsletter
Get the weekly briefing on your local tech ecosystem
Original journalism on the founders, funders and policies moving innovation forward. Choose your region, get a national overview with Innovation Wire or join decision-makers on Builders.
Before you go…
Subscribe to Technical.ly’s newsletters to stay connected with your community. Each week, we share the latest in tech news, startup trends, career success stories, key resources and job opportunities, all delivered straight to your inbox.
Backed by an Innovation Works grant, the team is seeking $5 million to automate street maintenance with 3D camera tech.
ConcordeApp is building a platform to match attendees by their expertise and needs, while helping them follow up on new connections.
The company is hiring to quadruple staff size as founder Lilly Chen bets her people-first approach to public sector IT can successfully scale.
Jil Ross of Chicago’s Funda Brands is learning retail from scratch. She hopes her journey inspires other women to launch their second act.
Mega deals are continuing to dominate, and investors urge founders to be selective about choosing which VC firms will back them.
The Philadelphia company plans to list on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger, marking the region’s second major robotics exit announcement this year.
The world is busy writing rules for the machines. These are for the people who still write — like Technical.ly does.
The founder of Explore PGH Tech Week, which returns Sept. 10-16, has a long relationship with the city’s innovation scene — going all the way back to her grandfather.
Fargo-based agtech firm 701x accounted for more than 60% of the state’s quarterly VC investment, but regional leaders say broader strategy matters more than totals.
Executive Director Alex Dalton is partnering with the region’s robotics network to bring outside investors to town during StartUP Week.
Frontier Technology Institute is demystifying complex physics with scholarships, stipends and hands-on mentors across the DMV region.
From gourmet cheese to custom jewelry to pediatric dentistry, get to know your neighborhood entrepreneurs.
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
All News
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Maryland
DC
Delaware
Omaha
National
Civic Tech, Policy & Government
Entrepreneurship & Business
Workforce & Jobs of the Future
Careers Resource Hub
Preferred Partners
Advertise With Us
Our Team
Our Services
Strategic Vision
Awards & Accreditations
Ethics in Journalism
Privacy Policy
Report an Issue
Contact Us
Make Technical.ly a preferred source when searching for tech and startup ecosystem news!
Sign in by entering the code we sent to , or clicking the magic link in the email.
Read our Privacy Policy here. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Leave a Reply